Just For Laughs Gags

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Just For Laughs Gags 2001-2003 logo

A gag on Just For Laughs Gags

Just For Laughs Gags is a Canadian silent comedy show that is a sister show of the TV series Just For Laughs. JFL Gags airs on the CBC and the Comedy Network. This series' format is the typical hidden camera comedy show, playing silly pranks on unusual subjects while hidden cameras capture the people's response (similar to UK hidden camera comedy shows). This show plays music in the background, but does not contain any sound and dialogue (some episodes do contain making noises). It is filmed in downtown Montreal and rural Québec although some segments are filmed in the UK or Mexico. Sound effects, music and a laugh track are added in post-production. It is impossible to have a live audience viewing it because there was no host or stages.

The show is shown in many countries and on airlines, because no translation is required though viewers had been confused if it was a Canadian or a British show due to the "natural" laugh track.

The Just For Laughs Gags formula has been used by the BBC for UK audiences. However, the formula has been used before Gags did, such as Candid Camera and The Tonight Show.

A sister version of the show is produced in Northern Ireland and is called simply Just For Laughs. Most of the show is filmed in and around Belfast, Northern Ireland and Glasgow, Scotland however some clips are shown from the Canadian show. The format of the show, however, is identical to that of the version filmed in Canada. The British version is produced by Wild Rover Productions Ltd [1] for the BBC.

An unnamed advertisement parodied the show, with a person hiding in a mailbox pushing people's envelopes out complete with a laugh track. The ad becomes extremely silent after a man takes out his gun and shoots the person inside. Many viewers thought the clip was real.

There is a similar show circulating on VHS of unknown origin called Just Kidding. Just Kidding is slightly edgier than Just For Laughs. It's funnier skits involve a (fake) gorilla charging out of the brush at tourists in a zoo, and a man handing a newspaper to people and running away (there is a fake gun inside). It is not known if Just Kidding is still in circulation, if it is related to Just For Laughs, or if more than one tape exists. The show is of Canadian or possibly French origin and may be a French spinoff of the Just For Laughs, called Juste Pour Rire by French-Canadians and the French.